Caroline Akervik's Blog, page 12

Look what just came in the mail!

Coming Soon! White Pine - Check it out on the Fire and Ice coming soon page

White Pine is coming soon! 

  

Thoughts on releasing White Pine into the wild

Whew. I just finished what I believe are the final edits for White Pine, which should be released before the end of this month. I find myself somewhat out of sorts. I reread the story over the past few days. Again, I experienced that strange distance that a writer gets from his or her work once it is complete. I remember the creative process of writing the story. I know what inspired it, and I vividly recall all of the work that went into it, but now the characters and the tale have gained a life or an identity all their own. I guess I read the book as a reader not as the writer for the first time. I recall reading that a story comes to life through its connection/interface with readers. I believe this to be true.

I find that sometimes I struggle when discussing characters or events in my books. It's kind of like thinking about a friend whom you haven't seen in a while, qualities about them or memories of them come back in spurts. It was like that for me when reading about Sevy's adventures. Of course, I knew everything that was going to happen to him, but there were moments when I got a little choked up, when I was really invested in his life and his adventures. I must admit that I want to be a little teary eyed or feel my heart is full when I complete a work.

I have a love/hate relationship with Ernest Hemingway, but once when  asked about how he wrote, he responded something to the effect that he cuts himself open and bleeds all over the page. I find writing to be a similar experience. The weird thing is that you pour yourself into a book, you bleed all over that page, and then that story and those characters sort of take off on their own, leaving you, the writer behind. And this is as it should be.

Two New Books in the Works!

It's been an exciting morning! I just got publishing offers from Wee Creek Press for two works. The first one is middle grade fiction entitled "Calvin the Christmas Cookie Maker." It has the flavor of Northwestern Wisconsin and is about recapturing the magic of Christmas. The other work is my first attempt at nonfiction. It is entitled  "Rescue Dog" and is about my family's experience adopting a pet from Minnesota Boxer Rescue. Minnesota Boxer Rescue will receive half of the royalties from this work. I am super excited and thankful to Wee Creek Press! I can't wait to see these two books.


http://weecreekpress.com/

Christmas Books

In school this week, I have been sharing holiday stories with my students. We all have our favorites, and I'm hoping that you will share some of yours here through comments. One of my all time favorites is Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon. It's set in 1915 and describes a special Christmas Eve shared by British and German troops on the front lines. It's a moving story and one many children have never heard before. We start the lesson with a Power Point providing a historical context. Then, I read the book. Afterwards, we watch a video clip in which the author and singer, McCutcheon, shares the inspiration for the story and song as well reactions to it. This is a wonderful holiday tale.

Now, please do take a moment to share your favorite holiday story here.

 A royalty free image.

More illustrations for White Pine - Due to be published in January 2014!

This illustration took some work. This is a Tomahawk or Axe Tossing game. Julie, the illustrator, and I weren't sure what this should look like. Our first image was of the stump set directly on the ground. My husband and Julie's son pointed out that no one throws axes directly down. Fair enough. Fortunately, Julie's son had played a version of this game at Boy Scout camp. We compared his recollection with some historical images and this drawing is what resulted.

Illustrator Mike Wohnoutka

 As part of the Authors in the Schools portion of the Chippewa Valley Book Festival, illustrator Mike Wohnoutka met with first and second grade students at the elementary school at which I work. He gave a charming presentation which inspired our students. He also drew the cow from MOO for us as well as a dragon. Both will soon hang in our library!

Another illustration from White Pine - The Clerk's desk

Here's a super cool illustration of a clerk's desk for White Pine. Illustrator Julie Schaller added a waterway map of Eau Claire over the desk. The drawing was inspired by an actual logging camp clerk's desk that is at the Chippewa Valley Museum.

A sneak peak at the illustrations for White Pine!

 Here's one of the illustrations for White Pine: My Year as a Lumberjack and a River Rat.The artist, Julie Schaller, is doing a wonderful job.

Prejudice Against Small Press

Book publishing as an industry is experiencing dramatic changes. Ebooks and Amazon have dramatically changed how we buy books and how we read them. I was first published in 2005 by a primarily ebook publisher. Needless to say, I didn't sell many books. Ebooks were not yet widely accepted and people didn't have the devices necessary for reading them. Brick and mortar bookstores often didn't carry books by small, independent publishers, often because it was difficult to return books to these smaller houses. It was very difficult to get a book published by an indie book publisher "out there."
Fast forward eight years. Many small electronic and POD publishing houses have opened and shut down. I have had several books and several short stories published by a number of publishing houses. My books are up on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Ereaders are widely accepted and utilized. But still, it is very difficult as an author published by a small house to get reviewed by the big review journals. Midwest Book Review is one notable exception; they encourage the submission of small press publications. Other review journals seems to make it as difficult as possible for small press publications to even be considered. There seems to exist a very real prejudice against small press works, which are often disparaged as poorly written and barely edited. In addition, there are some writer's organizations which refuse to allow those published by small press to participate. The message by the "establishment" of book publishing would seem to be that there is no place at the table for small press. Recently, I considered applying for membership in a writer's organization. However, the organization included the following information on their site: "Books featured on ... have been published by traditional publishing houses or reviewed favorably
in traditional journals (School Library Journal, The Horn Book, Book Links, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, VOYA)." I am not including the name of this organization because, to be honest, I would have loved to be a part of this group. They do a great deal in terms of marketing and promotion for their members. It alsoincludes a super cool group of authors. But the bottom line is the organization does not consider those published by small press to be legit. Therefore, as an author, I don't count. Ouch. It becomes a Catch 22. That is, my novel cannot be reviewed by the well known journals because it is small press and I can'tjoin certain promotional groups for the same reason. Now, many of you may be thinking, why not just give in to the man and submit to the traditional
houses? I have. I went that route and will likely do so again. Over the years, I have had three agents whohave submitted  my works to the large publishing companies. I have followed all the rules and sat and  
waited for responses for months on various submissions. Once I had a near miss. The publishing house
in question got back to me and said that if I made the requested changes to my manuscript, they would
probably offer me a contract. So,I made the changes, which eviserated my story, and then they rejected
the story anyway. A few years ago, I made the decision that writing my stories and making them
available to readers was what was important to me. The who and how of it, less so. I went to small press because I believed in the integrity of my stories. (That sounds better than I wentsmall press because I'd failed with large press.) I am no longer willing to make sweeping changes to mystories with which I don't agree. Sure, I listen to my editors. Absolutely. That's part of the contract that I sign with the publisher. But I also believe in my own artistic integrity and I am much less willingto compromise at this point in the game. So, where am I going with this? There are a limitless number of books out there. Self publishing has opened Pandora's Box in many ways. I agree with the "establishment" that there is a lot of rubbish outthere, but there also may be some diamonds mixed in with the dross, and it is incredibly short sightedto simply exclude all small press publications. Some would argue, myself among them, that much ofwhat is published by large press is rubbish as well. But now, I'm being catty. And, the floodgates will open. The "establishment"can seek to hold back the deluge, but it will and is coming. Ebooks and small press are an opportunity and offer options to readers as well as writers, not vermin to be stamped out. The bottom line is that I am published by a "real" publishing house and I will continue to fight to getthe word out on my books. I believe that much of this prejudice against small press is about fear. The big companies don't want to lose money and they have relationships with the review journals andthe writer's organizations, who want to keep the hoi polloi out. As a member of the hoi polloi,I would argue that we bring a great deal to the table, including some genuinely wonderful storieswhich deserve to be read and reviewed.